Past Special Events

The Department of Theatre and Dance hosts a variety of guest artists, special programs and performances during the year. Check our Calendar of Events for a complete listing of current Department activities.

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an Epilogue

October 12, 2009

Two crowds gathered in the Department of Theatre and Dance's Lab Theatre on October 12, 2009 to join over one hundred theaters around the world for an interactive premiere of Tectonic Theater Project's, The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an Epilogue.

Ten Years Later is a follow-up to The Laramie Project, the acclaimed play conceived by Tectonic Theater Project through interviews conducted with residents of Laramie, Wyoming following the 1998 murder of a 21-year-old gay man, Matthew Shepard. Presented on the 11th anniversary of Shepard's death, the epilogue focuses on the long-term effects the brutal crime left on the town of Laramie over the last ten years and explores how the town has changed and how it has not.

Rude Mechs and The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance Musical Theatre Initiative Present a Workshop and Work-in-Progress Showing of
I've Never Been So Happy

June 1 – 13, 2009

The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance partnered with Austin's ensemble-based theater company, Rude Mechs, for a two-week workshop of their new musical trans-media performance piece titled, I've Never Been So Happy.

Serving as one component of the Department of Theatre and Dance Musical Theatre Initiative, the two-week workshop culminated in a work-in-progress showing on June 13, 2009 creating an exciting opportunity for Department of Theatre and Dance undergraduate and graduate students to work alongside Rude Mechs company members as they continued the collaborative process of generating new work for which the company is known.

The University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival 2009

March 30 - April 4, 2009

Serving as a living legacy to honor the memory of David Mark Cohen, playwright, critic, arts activist and former head of the Playwriting Program at UT, The University Co-op Presents the Cohen New Works Festival is a biennial festival organized by the UT Department of Theatre and Dance celebrating original works created by students, faculty, and guest artists invited from across the nation.

The 2009 University Co-op Presents The Cohen New Works Festival included 31 projects conceived and executed by teams of student actors, directors, dancers, writers, designers, dramaturges, filmmakers, visual artists, choreographers and composers.

For more information on the 2009 festival, please visit the New Works 2009 page.

University Co-op presents the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival 2007

April 9 – 15, 2007

The University Co-op presents Cohen New Works Festival is a biennial festival organized by the UT Department of Theatre and Dance that celebrates original works created by UT students, faculty, and guest artists. Audiences experience a variety of performances, readings, choreography, guest artist panels, and workshops. The festival is collaborative and multi-disciplinary in nature and offers students and faculty from every department on campus the opportunity to be involved. The 2007 festival featured seven days of back-to-back events, during which classes held in the Winship Drama Building were suspended in support of the event.

For more information on the 2007 festival, please visit the New Works 2007 page.

American College Dance Festival South Central Regional Conference

March 15 – 18, 2006

The University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance hosted the South Central Conference of the American College Dance Festival, bringing over 500 students and faculty from 40 universities and a dozen guest artists for three days of performances, workshops, panel discussions and master classes.

The American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA) sponsors regional conferences to support and promote the talent at university dance departments. In addition to the educational focus of these conferences, they also provide the unique opportunity for students and faculty to have their dance works adjudicated by a panel of nationally recognized dance professionals.

The UT Dance Repertory Theatre's performance of an original work by David Justin, Solemn Opus: The Journey of Lost and Found, was selected by the conference adjudicators to be performed in May 2006 at the National College Dance Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C..

Kristen Frankiewicz, a UT B.F.A. in Dance major, was nominated for ACDFA/Dance Magazine's “Outstanding Student Performer” to be considered for the award by a panel at the National Festival.

University Co'op presents the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival 2005

April 8 – 15, 2005

This biennial festival celebrates original works created by UT students, faculty and recent graduates, ranging from full productions of new plays to experimental works in site-specific locations. The 2005 festival expanded to include multidisciplinary collaborations and contributions from various UT departments including Radio-Television-Film, Music, Architecture, Art and Art History, and Germanic Studies. The 2005 festival was a tremendous success, thanks to the students, staff, and faculty on the planning committee and the generous sponsorship of the University Co-operative Society.

For more information on the 2005 festival, please visit the New Works 2005 page.

Forty Years and Counting:
Honoring the Achievement of Coleman A. Jennings and the Field of Theatre for Youth

April 30 and May 1, 2004

On April 30 and May 1, 2004, the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance hosted a symposium to honor Professor Coleman A. Jennings and his first forty years of service to the Department of Theatre and Dance and to the field of Theatre for Young Audiences. This symposium brought together a cross-section of theatre practitioners, academics and students to discuss various advances in the field of children's theatre over the years and into the future in this ever-changing field.

M.F.A. Actor Showcase

March 22 and 29, 2004

The UT Department of Theatre and Dance M.F.A. in Acting class of 2007 and 2004 are highlighted in the M.F.A. Actor Showcase Web sites. Please visit the M.F.A.2007 Actor's Showcase or the M.F.A.2004 Actor's Showcase page to meet the graduates and learn more about the showcase.

Performance as Public Practice:
Imagining the Future of Performance Scholarship

February 20 – 22, 2004

What is performance as public practice? In asking this question, we hope to explore the widest possible parameters of performance in its relationship to historical and contemporary global culture as well as local communities. As the field of performance scholarship grows more interdisciplinary, how might we think of ourselves as active participants in artistic, social, and cultural communities? Does thinking of performance as public practice clarify the relationship between performance theory and theatre practice?

This conference involved graduate students, emerging scholars, and those committed to encouraging graduate work and invited them to imagine the future of performance scholarship; to explore performance in relation to communities, as well as to historic and contemporary practices; to present research and participate in open forums and workshops as both scholars and artists; to imagine performance as public practice.

New Works Festival

April 4 – 13, 2003

A showcase and celebration of new plays, choreography, solo, site specific, and interdisciplinary work created by students and faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Fresh Terrain: a performance theatre festival and symposium

January 22 –26, 2003

Performance Space 122 and the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin are proud to announce Fresh Terrain, a jointly produced festival of new work curated by P.S. 122's Artistic Director, Mark Russell, to be held January 22 – 26, 2003 in multiple venues in and around The University of Texas at Austin. Please visit the archived article Performers Unearth Fresh Terrain: Edgy Experimental Theatre.